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HEARN BEST IN ADVANCE RACE




FONDA - If Brett Hearn of Sussex, N.J., goes on to win the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series championship, he can point to Fonda Speedway as his launching pad.

After staying in the point race with a series of consistent finishes in the first half of the series, Hearn turned on the afterburners Wednesday night and overpowered the field in the 100-lap Syracuse qualifier at the Track of Champions.

Hearn, who had started seventh, took the lead away from Tim McCreadie on a restart on lap 61, and went on to notch his second series win of the season. Hearn usually has the right combination at Fonda Speedway, as he also won Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series race in 1997 and 1998.

McCreadie was darn near perfect Wednesday night. First, he turned the fastest lap in time trials. Then, he picked up a bonus for winning the Exiss Dash. Finally, after saying that ...”things have been going my way.” when the drivers went to the famed Fonda checkerboard square for the pre-race draw, picked the pole for the feature.

But he had some tough competition up front. Fonda Speedway regular A.J. Romano, who had won two of the last three Saturday night features in his Troyer modified, picked the outside pole, after some instructions from crewmember Buckwheat Atty, and it was Romano, from the outside, who got the jump when starter Claude Riley dropped the green flag to start the feature.

After just 10 laps, the leaders were already into traffic, and they kept clicking off green flag laps. Romano was running his regular high line, with McCreadie down low, and eventually, the lower groove proved to be the place to be, as McCreadie made a pass for the lead on lap 20.

Hearn, who had been doing some three-wide racing with Jack Johnson and Danny Johnson early in the race, grabbed the No. 3 spot on lap 14, and then slid under Romano on lap 23 coming out of the third turn for second.

But there was no catching McCreadie, who was looking for his first win at the Track of Champions.

But Hearn finally got the break he needed on lap 57, when the only caution flag of the race came out. Mike Romano, who was a lap down, bounced off another car in the third turn and slammed into the outside concrete barrier. After Romano was taken to the pits on the back of a tow truck, Hearn used the restart on lap 61 to charge past McCreadie and get the lead.

“I just didn’t fire, and Brett did,” said McCreadie after the race.

From that point, Hearn maintained a good rhythm, and pulled away for an easy win. McCreadie finished second, while Romano held off a late charge from Jeff Trombley to get third and earn the guaranteed starting spot for October’s Eckerd 300 at the New York State Fairgrounds.

Trombley gave the fans a little excitement in the closing laps of the race, rocketing past Doug Hoffman and Danny Johnson in his bid to catch Romano. The race was the second straight that McCreadie was snake bitten at the Track of Champions. In last October’s McDonald’s 200,. he had the fastest car on the track and was cruising along in the lead when his front suspension broke. After manhandling the car for a long period to time, McCreadie was finally knocked out of the race when the front end collapsed.

Danny Johnson finished fifth, followed by Billy Decker, Hoffman, Alan Johnson, Pat Ward and Tim Fuller. Trombley passed the most cars during the night, after starting 14th.

Heat race winners were Dave Lape, Vic Coffey, Chuck Bower and Ward, while Chris Shultz and Craig Criscone won the consolation races.

Ken Tremont Jr., who went into the night 11th in the Advance Auto Parts point race, used his guaranteed starter’s status to get into the field, but only ran 24th.

Rapid Ryan Odasz lived up to his nickname in the 20-lap sportsman feature. Despite starting 18th, Odasz came away with his third win of the season in impressive fashion.

Bob Perry had the pole and was the only other leader of the race, but all eyes were on Odasz, who was up to fourth after just five laps, thanks to a couple of early incidents that he snaked through.

The sportsman feature saw a lot of three-wide racing, including one scramble on lap nine that saw Odasz go around the top of both Bobby Hackel and Jeff Holt to grab the No. 2 position.

Odasz continued to reel in Perry, and finally got the lead on lap 16, ducking to the inside when Perry got a little squirrelly coming out of the fourth turn. Jimmy Davis and Perry both stayed right on Odasz’s tail, creating a three-car battle for the lead, but with one lap to go, Perry pinched Davis into the outside wall coming down the front straightaway, and the little miscue between those two cars allowed Odasz to pull away.

Davis finished second, with Perry third, Hackel fourth and Holt fifth. Fonda’s next major event will take place on August 1, when the Track of Champions hosts the Sunoco 358 Tour.

ADVANCE AUTO PART SUPER DIRT SERIES (100 laps): BRETT HEARN, Tim McCreadie, A.J. Romano, Jeff Trombley, Danny Johnson, Billy Decker, Doug Hoffman, Alan Johnson, Pat Ward, Tim Fuller, Jack Johnson, Bobby Varin, Vic Coffey, Ronnie Holmes, Bob McCreadie, Matt DeLorenzo, Chuck Bower, Ronnie Johnson, Mike Fusco, Steve Paine, Tony Pepicelli, Floyd Billington, Craig Criscone, Ken Tremont Jr., Chris Shultz, Butch Tittle, Ron Proctor, Mike Romano, Alton Palmer, Dave Lape, Andy Bachetti.

SPORTSMAN: RYAN ODASZ, Jimmy Davis, Bob Perry, Bobby Hackel, Jeff Holt, John McAuliffe, Jimmy Burton, Craig Boehler, Drew Fallis, Tim Clemons, Mike Ballestero, Jeremiah Munson, Jason Otty, Steve Akers, Pat O’Hanlon, Mike Frasier, Jessica Zemken, Billy Osta, Paul Dunham Jr., Jeff Jones, John Constantino, John Pieniazek, Mike Ketchum, Erik Harper.